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[description], Story, any other text you want to use. Desktop Security Software Risks - Part 2 by: Tim Klemmer
This is the third in a series of articles highlighting reasons why we need a new model for anti-virus and security solutions. Reason #2: the Desktop Security Software Risks The risks of placing software on the desktop are such that I will be breaking this article into two parts. There are many advantages to putting security and anti-virus software on the desktop. They range from efficiency to money. Under previous ways of thinking if I can capture security and virus problems at the desktop I can prevent them from going any farther. That works well in a non-connected environment. In the connected environment it makes more sense to centralize the software and monitor connections in and out. Basically "firewall" all the appliances from each other. In a previous article we discussed the security risks inherent with desktop software designed to be the protection layer between you and all those bad people out there on the Internet. Here now we will discuss some more mundane issues regarding the risks of putting security software on the desktop: Drag Drag steals clock-cycles from your processes so that it can run in a higher priority mode. Anti-virus software especially places a drag on your computer. Depending on your settings (and the default settings are usually very aggressive), every time you run a program or open a file, real-time file scanning takes place and your files are scanned for viruses. This slows down your processing. Accessing larger files takes longer. You can see a discernible lag time between when you start a program/open a file and when you can actually access it. Compatibility After the obvious issue of "drag" is compatibility. Often security and anti-virus rules get in the way of your doing business on your computer. While you may get away with using older versions of such packages as Word, Sims, Photoshop, etc. on your computer with the new XP operating system, it's unlikely your security software will be completely compatible. Why? Many packages rely on very low-level functionality to be able to do the tasks they set out to do. Anti-virus packages have to be able to operate at a level closer to the hardware than most packages. They need to do this to prevent virus software from taking precedence from them. While many packages offer backward-compatibility the opposite is not true: forward-compatibility. There are several reasons for this: a package written for Windows 98 will not anticipate all the changes to the operating system that are implemented for Windows XP. While your Win98 anti-virus program may work under XP, it won't work at its peak performance. It can't. It's just another reason for centralizing your security. By siphoning all your traffic through a security screen at your ISP, for instance, you offload the need for updates and staying up-to-date on your security software. This then becomes the job of the service provider. Updates Having the software on your desktop means you are responsible for maintaining that software. In the case of office productivity software or image editing software, if new versions come out with features you're not interested in, you don't update. With new viruses appearing on the landscape every day, you can't afford not to continually update your software. If you don't update for a month or two, you run severe risks of infection. You also will incur potential long update cycles as your software has to be upgraded to handle all the new threats. This makes the desktop these days a somewhat ineffective solution. Nearly two-thirds of all the PCs that have anti-virus protection installed do not update their definitions regularly. These PCs might as well uninstall the software for all the good it's doing them. Lost Time As mentioned in the above discussion, you can lose considerable time if you don't update regularly. Long intervals between updates can translate into long update cycles. If you have a slow connection to a vendor, your down time is much longer as you have to wait for the files to be downloaded and then you have to wait for your software to update itself. Solution The better solution is to move to a centralized solution in which all the software, all the updates are the responsibility of the service provider. You pay for the service of having your email cleaned before you receive it. When email arrives at your service provider's mailbox, it is checked for malicious tendencies and stripped if bad. You notice no long waiting, no downtime, no drag, no incompatibilities.
tv shows
While the threat from hackers is low for individuals, a more serious threat to personal privacy comes from unscrupulous tv shows companies that operate websites for quick quids. Many tv shows sites require you to register before you can use its services. Often you must provide personal information, such as your name, street address, and e-mail address. Then as you browse the site, data is collected as to which pages you visited, how long you remained on each page, the links you clicked, what terms you searched, and so on. After a number of visits to the site, a personal profile emerges. The question is, what do tv shows site operators do with this information? Most claim that they use it to personalize your experience on the site. For instance, if a tv shows site learns that you are interested in tv shows, the next time you visit the site, you might be presented with an article or advertisements for that and related products. But some tv shows websites sell this information to marketers, which means that you may find yourself receiving unwanted catalogs from garden suppliers. Our preferred retailer does not do this. Real Time Media On The Net Index
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